The Color Purple

The wild phlox are showing off their vivid purple blossoms down by the pond so I decided to pick three sprigs of them to bring into the house to photograph.

The Color Purple

There’s something about the color purple that intrigues me. It devilishly difficult to get the color in my photographs to match what my eye sees. And there are so many different shades of purple, some with more red in them, others more blue.

The color purple reminds me of the poem, Warning written by Jenny Joseph at age 29.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

   — Jenny Joseph, excerpt from the poem, Warning

I loved the poem, Warning, when I was younger and even gave a framed copy of it to my mother-in-law, Marie, who had a profound influence on the woman I became. She lived her life unapologetically with courage, grace, and kindness. I miss her.

Thoughts on Social Change

I am keenly aware of the continuing discourse and protest marches for social change and justice in the black community in our country and around the world. Though I am heartened by the change I am seeing, I know that I, have inner work to do and outer work to do for this movement as well. It’s no longer okay for me to sit on the sidelines of this struggle.

I received an email today from Hiro Boga, business coach, author, and mentor for creative entepreneurs, that I thought spoke profoundly to the work ahead for all of us.

Our world is in deep trouble, and we are actively destroying cultures and communities whose wisdom and experience we desperately need.

 

Ultimately, history teaches us that systemic change is rarely linear and requires ongoing, long-term effort and a variety of concerted approaches and actors to be effective. Elites do not voluntarily relinquish power. Non-violent activism and civil disobedience work as political strategies only when power elites are forced to yield by the social conscience and political will of the majority. In a democratic society, that majority is us. Our voices, our ongoing, everyday actions in support of the most vulnerable in our communities, in support of legislative reforms and public policy initiatives that create change from the ground up, are essential to effect equitable, just and hospitable-to-all societies.

 

Now is not the time to remain numb and disengaged; neither is it useful to drown in troubled waters. We need to reach for inner strength and sovereignty, clarity and a marrow-deep commitment to justice and liberation for all, especially for our sisters and brothers whose encounters with our justice system reflect the profoundly racist fissures in our societies.

 

To do this work effectively over the long haul, each of us must understand and honour our capacities and limits, tend to our hearts so we can tend to what matters most.

 

If you haven’t already begun, now is the time to do the urgent work of parsing inner contradictions and schisms, which ultimately are reflected in societal fragmentation. It’s time to engage in clear political analysis, to understand and begin or continue the lifelong work of uprooting racism, misogyny, classism and colonialism. Time to destroy neoliberal agendas and the depredations of late-stage capitalism.

We cannot be whole when we live in fractured societies, where a vociferous and dangerously self-serving minority establishes the terms by which the majority of us are forced to live.

— Hiro Boga, in email

Hiro also included a link to a reading list which I am also including here.

May you walk in beauty.